


Fear

by carlyrb6



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Draco is surprisingly not a piece of shit, Gen, Harry doesn't know how to deal with shit, Harry's boggart isn't a dementor, His greatest fear is people finding out about the Dursleys, References to Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 10:37:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7887982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carlyrb6/pseuds/carlyrb6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's boggart was not a dementor. It was something much more terrifying- something from his past. Please read and review.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The boggart was in the wardrobe. 

Everyone knew this and did not seem to find it as horribly frightening as he did. Everyone laughed and joked as they formed a line and Professor Lupin instructed them on the Ridiculous charm. Did they not realize that their greatest fear was about to step out into this very room? And if that wasn't enough, show itself to everyone? Or were they just too childish to have any true horrors worth exposing. Yes, that must be it. A snake. A hag. A mummy. Nothing truly horrifying.

"Harry. Harry. It's your turn now," Hermione said beside him. He walked forward a few steps. The jack-in-the-box turned to him and disappeared into a cloud of confusion. It was shifting. He took in an uneasy breath. He knew what it would be before he had even stepped up. He shut his eyes.

Gasps sounded around the room, even a few snickers that could only be from Malfoy. He opened his eyes.

A younger version of himself stood before him. He was very small. Most people probably thought he was five, but the two of them knew he was seven. The boy put a finger to his lips.

"Shhhh..." he says. "I have a secret." Harry couldn't move- couldn't breathe.

"I can't tell you... but I can show you." The boy's hand moved down to hold the hem of his shirt. "But you have to promise not to tell- Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon will get mad. They said not to ever tell or they would do it again." The boy started to pull up his shirt. Harry pulled up his wand.

"Ridiculous," he whispered. "R-Ridiculous."

The boy continued to pull up the shirt. He was so skinny. You could see all of his ribs.

"Ridiculous. Ridiculous!" Nothing was happening. No one could find out. Harry realized he was crying.

The shirt was off.

Silence.

Total silence.

Bruises and cuts covered little Harry's chest.

"They beat me," little Harry says. "They punish me for being such an unnatural freak! And the sickest part of it all is that I don't blame them! I deserve it! I'm not normal! No matter how much I wish I was, I never can be! And it's all because no matter where I am, I'm a freak! Freak! Freak! Freak! Freak! Fre-"

"RIDICULOUS!" The little boy spun around quickly and turned into a top.

Harry stood alone with his wand still pointed at where the boy had stood moments before. Tears ran down his face like rain drops down a windowsill.

Silence again.

Hermione went up to try to guide him away, but Harry just shrugged her away and stormed out.


	2. Chapter 2

It was sunny outside. The light shined through Hogwarts's large windows and into the stone hallway. Only Harry stood there- bent broken over the windowsill, his eyes now dry and hidden under his glasses, as he watched the wind sweep up leaves into great dances. No one had followed him when he had left the class. He didn't mind though. All he could think was how he needed to escape that room. Their silence was suffocating.

The anger had fallen away already. The quiet heartbeat of these stone walls melted it like Dudley's ice cream on a summer's day. As much as he hated them, was it wrong of him to not blame them? His fingers played with his left sleeve as he watched the leaves fall slowly, ever so slowly as if they were in their own time, to the ground. Was it that which made him a freak? Or was it the polar opposites of the worlds he was trapped between: one minute loved and adored, the next despised and ignored. 'I can handle despised, just don't make me ignored', he confessed to himself.

He laid his forehead against the cool glass. He did not know how much time had passed before the tap tap tap of footsteps passed through his ears like a gentle orchestra. Harry scrunched his eyes. Let it not be Hermione. Let it not be Ron. Let it not be someone who tries to drag me back to the common room.

And then he opened them.

"Potter," the voice drawled. Malfoy stood a few passes away, face as pompous as usual and his chin in the air.

"Not now, Malfoy," Harry replied as he cursed his bad luck. "Now isn't the best time." Malfoy just took a step forward, hands clasp behind his back, as if trying to glide with an air of eliteness only a Malfoy could attempt. The sunlight shined off the left side of his hair like a broken crown.

"I don't know why, Potter. After all it is just another normal day at Hogwarts. You stood in the back of the line in DADA and class ended before you got to the Boggart. I believe Weasley's ridiculous spider was the last to appear."

Confusion filled Harry's face. Malfoy's lips turned upward into a knowing smirk. And with that Malfoy gave a small nod before turning away and strolling down the hall. Just before disappearing around the corner, he called out: "relax Potter and remember: it's just a normal day."


End file.
